Bactris aubletiana

Bactris (BAHK-triss) aubletiana (ahoob-leh-tee-AHN-ah)
French Guiana. Photo-tipalm.fr
Scientific Classification
Genus: Bactris (BAHK-triss) Species: aubletiana (ahoob-leh-tee-AHN-ah)
Synonyms
None set.
Native Continent
America
Morphology
Habit: Solitary Leaf type: Pinnate
Culture
Survivability index
Common names
French Guiana:faux wi blanc, wilã si (Wayapi). Suriname: yuyba.

Habitat and Distribution

Suriname and French Guiana lowland forest on terra firme, 10- 460 m elevation.

French Guiana. Photo-tipalm.fr

Description

Stems solitary or cespitose, 0.6-2 m tall, 0.3-0.5 cm in diam. Leaves 10-11; leaf spines absent, rarely present, then black, to 1 cm long, scattered on sheath and petiole; sheath 8-15 cm long; ocrea much reduced, to 1 cm long, with an apical fringe of hairs; petiole 5-16 cm long; rachis 3-18 cm long; blade simple, bifid, often with soft spines on margins, with prominent cross-veins; blade 17-30 cm long, 4-10 cm wide at apex of rachis. Inflorescences interfoliar, becoming infrafoliar in fruit; peduncle 3-3.5 cm long, recurved, spinulose; prophyll 2.5-4 cm long; peduncular bract 5-7 cm long, moderately to densely covered with soft, erect, black spines to 5 mm long; rachillae 1-3,2.5-3.5 cm long, at anthesis covered with brown, moniliform trichomes and sometimes with short spinules; triads regularly arranged; staminate flowers to 3 mm long, deciduous; sepal lobes about 1 mm long; petals 2.5-3.5 mm long; stamens 6; pistillode absent; pistillate flowers to 2.5 mm long; calyx cupular, 0.5-1 mm long; corolla tubular, 1.5-2 glabrous or spinulose; staminodes absent; fruits 0.5-0.7 cm in diam., globose, orange; mesocarp starchy; endocarp turbinate, the pores equally spaced; endocarp fibers few or absent; fruiting perianth with small, lobed calyx and much longer, 3-lobed, glabrous or spinulose corolla, without staminodial ring. (Govaerts, R. & Dransfield, J. (2005). World Checklist of Palms: 1-223. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew)/Palmweb. Editing by edric.

Bactris aubletiana is diagnosed by its simple, bifid leaf blade with prominent cross-veins, and moderately to densely spiny peduncular bract (the rest of the plant is mostly not spiny). (Govaerts, R. & Dransfield, J. (2005). World Checklist of Palms: 1-223. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew)/Palmweb.

Culture

Cold Hardiness Zone: 10a